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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564005">Rent Asunder</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onesmartcookie78/pseuds/Onesmartcookie78'>Onesmartcookie78</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunter X Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bottom Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), Canon-Typical Violence, Creepy Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dominant Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), Established Relationship, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, Exhibitionism, F/M, Inappropriate audience and location, Just Hisoka Being Hisoka, Morally Ambiguous Character, Omake, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut, Top Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), We finally did it! Chapter 9 is smut if you're just here for that</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:00:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564005</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onesmartcookie78/pseuds/Onesmartcookie78</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He would kill anyone to keep her safe. It’s always struck her as unfair; if he were to die saving her, then the honor—the privilege—of killing him herself would be taken from her. And that simply won’t do. If she lost that, lost out in seeing something other than amusement, than blood lust, bleeding from his eyes while he bleeds to death for all he’s done—well, then she would have nothing. Hisoka/OC</p><p>  <a href="https://discord.gg/phzUsxX">Join my Discord!</a></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter)/Original Female Character(s), Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>273</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter, nor any of the characters affiliated with it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He would kill anyone to keep her safe. It’s always struck her as unfair; if he were to die saving her, then the honor—the privilege—of killing him herself would be taken from her. And that simply won’t do. If she lost that, lost out in seeing something other than amusement, than bloodlust, bleeding from his eyes while he bleeds to death for all he’s done—well, then she would have nothing.</p>
<p>It’s why she chooses to follow him to the Hunter’s Game—sorry, Exam—and it’s why she does so in disguise. She wants to see it. See the surprise, the <em>irritation</em> on his face when he realizes it’s her. It makes her mouth <em>water.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Makes her feel something other than nothing.</em>
</p>
<p>Her heart throbs and her fingers tingle in response to the image slowly being constructed in her mind’s eye. It isn’t often that she sees his expression shift—almost never, in fact—and she knows it will be…<em>delicious.</em></p>
<p>She arrives to the location of the Exam first. It isn’t as hard to find as the Chairman probably thinks it is, and she wants to beat <em>him</em> there. Wants to hide until she’s maximized his potential surprise and anger and minimized the amount of bodily harm that’s likely to be done to her. Then, <em>then</em>, she’ll suck him dry, wipe his face blank of anything, take his feelings as her own and drain him to the last drop.</p>
<p>She’ll probably have to incapacitate him to achieve her goal; a difficult task, but not so insurmountable as it seems. Not if he doesn’t think she’s much of a threat; not if he doesn’t take her seriously.</p>
<p>She goes firmly into zetsu as other competitors—prey—begin to arrive. She’s already in full disguise: makeup, a wig, a fake nose and chin, colored contacts. She looks painfully average, binds her breasts to ensure it, and if there’s one thing that doesn’t interest him, it’s average. He wants the best and nothing else—he rends flesh from bone because it’s extraordinary, not because it bores him.</p>
<p>And, even though she’s hiding, even though her eyes are closed, and her music is turned all the way up, she still feels the very moment he walks into the room. A suffocating, heady aura of bloodlust washes over her like a tsunami, crushes the air from her lungs and begs her to meet it with her own. She fights not to freeze, fights not to glance over, fights to remain <em>bland</em> but she’s never been that in her entire life, so it takes all her self-control to remain impassive when she hears the green humanoid say:</p>
<p>“Number forty-four, Hisoka Marrow."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last to enter are children. The oldest is maybe twenty, and he’s accompanied by what look to be two twelve-year-olds (one of whom she’s certain is Killua Zoldyck) and a blonde who might be fifteen or so. Despite their ages, Hisoka must see potential in them, because his gaze lingers, and his mouth is all but watering to her trained eye. Still, his expression remains carefully blank.</p><p>When Hisoka practically kills someone for bumping into him, it’s almost more than she can handle. Her heart throbs in her chest and she aches to reveal herself, if only to finish the man off.</p><p>(She can see the disgust and fear in the twenty-year-old’s face at the display, and the limitless curiosity in the boy dressed in green. She wishes she could activate Gyou, wishes she could see what Hisoka so clearly does; maybe the boy is leaking Nen, and wouldn’t that be a pretty sight?)</p><p>Satotz leads them on a drawn out run to the true start of the Exam. She keeps carefully in the back-middle of the pack, avoiding any unwanted attention associated with being in the very front or the very back. It’s a fine line she walks; she can’t be so bad that it looks like she’s failing on purpose. That would be equally as suspicious.</p><p>Her heart gives another throb when Hisoka tries to kill Satotz.</p><p>God, she wants him.</p><p>And, despite being a good cook, she purposely fails Menchi’s exam. Considering everyone else fails, this makes her no worse nor better than anyone else. The delicious egg she receives in return is enough of a consolation for her wounded pride.</p><p>She’s doing a great job until she’s faced with the trick tower. She intends to finish in twenty-four hours, but fate isn’t on her side, and she winds up paired with Hisoka.</p><p>It takes a lot of effort not to rip off her disguise then and there. The Japponese accent she’s affected, the brunette wig, the eyelash extensions and brown-colored contacts…it would all be in vain if she decided to give it up now.</p><p>Still, the desire to impress him <em>burns</em> through her. It’s not her fault, therefore, when she finally slips up.</p><p>It starts when he regards her with the kind of apathy that makes something in her <em>rage.</em></p><p>For as much as she complains that he only has a taste for the extraordinary, she herself is only used to <em>being</em> extraordinary<em>. </em>She’s used to being the most beautiful person in the room, the most powerful, the most <em>intelligent.</em> So, for her to affect this persona has been a test of her patience, her ability to pretend to be something she’s not and, more importantly, her vainglory.</p><p>It ends when they happen upon the Examiner that Hisoka had nearly killed last year.</p><p>Well, perhaps she shouldn’t say “happen upon” because obviously this whole tower has been planned.</p><p>
  <em>And she remembers that day very clearly, when he had lost the Exam for the first time. He’d been…furious.</em>
</p><p>So far, the tower has been easy; simple feats of balance and strength and fights with weak prisoners that Hisoka had easily taken care of with the kind of single-minded focus that had attracted her to him in the first place. He’d ignored her almost entirely, not even giving their opponents a chance at fighting her. If she hadn’t been playing the part of a mild-mannered young woman, she would have been <em>pissed.</em></p><p>It’s when the room they next walk into is dark that she starts to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, all the candles light up at once and the room unfurls in green-yellow splendor.</p><p>“I’ve been waiting for you,” says the room’s only occupant. “Hisoka.”</p><p>Her stomach <em>flips </em>at the blood lust this man emanates, and then again when Hisoka responds in turn.</p><p>“I’m not here as an Examiner this year,” he explains. “I’m here for <em>revenge.” </em>He rises gracefully to his feet, continuing to monologue, “Ever since the last Exam, all I’ve thought about is killing you.” He finally brandishes his weapon; a curved knife reminiscent of a khopesh. “And today I get payback,” he says, his blade catching the candlelight as he spins it in his grasp, “for all the scars you gave me!”</p><p>Hisoka <em>smirks</em>, but his expression is flat. <em>He’s not interested in a rematch. This guy must be weak. </em>“Those scars are but a symbol of your incompetence as an Examiner,” he says. “Don’t blame me for your own inadequacies.”</p><p>“Shut up and prepare to die,” says the Examiner, pulling out a second knife</p><p>“Two blade style, huh?” Hisoka wonders, looking only slightly more intrigued.</p><p><em>‘This is barely a challenge,’ </em>she catches herself thinking.</p><p>But the Examiner just laughs, launching his knives up into the air and withdrawing two more. “No. All-direction four blade style!”</p><p>And with that, the fight begins.</p><p>“Take this!” the Examiner shouts, throwing the two he’s holding at Hisoka. While Hisoka dodges, the Examiner catches the other two and moves forward to make an attack at close range.</p><p>She has to dodge out of the way too, and with four knives constantly being tossed about, it’s no surprise that she eventually misses one. It happens because she’s watching Hisoka too much, she’ll later say; it’s not that she’s concerned for him, it’s just that he’s the one being attacked, so naturally she’s looking at him. Specifically, it happens as she watches him get nicked by two of the knives.</p><p>Consequently, she feels the breeze created by the knife before she sees it in the dim lighting, and she only <em>just </em>manages to tilt her head back before it’s whizzing over her face. It clips the end of the prosthetic she’s using, slicing the tip of her fake nose clean off before the blade circles back around like a boomerang. This time, it’s heading for her left arm, and as a result, she has to use her momentum to throw herself to the right.</p><p>It’s because of her lack of attention that she ends up catching the blade by the handle. It’s instinct, engraved in her bones. The need to fight, to beat her opponents. It’s luck that Hisoka happens to be busy catching the two other knives himself; it gives her the time to peel off the remainder of her fake nose, scrape at the adhesive, scrub herself of this part of her careful disguise.</p><p>“Dodging your attacks would have been difficult, you’re right,” Hisoka practically purrs, licking at the gleaming metal stained partially with his own blood. “Stopping your blades, however…” He experimentally gives the knives a twirl, spinning them expertly in his grasp. “My, <em>my</em>, that was easier than expected.” She catches the curl of his lips as he turns his head to look over his shoulder at her. “Nice try, but it wasn’t good enough,” he finishes, and with that, he swiftly decapitates the Examiner, all while holding eye contact with her.</p><p>She can’t <em>breathe, </em>she wants him so bad. Instead, she remains in Zetsu, even as he pushes out his aura to try and greet her own. She <em>shudders.</em></p><p>“Nice catch, <em>kitten,”</em> he says, licking at the blade once more. It probably says something about her, that she finds this so attractive. He takes a step towards her, and then another, and then he’s <em>right there</em>, but she can’t reach out to him, <em>so close</em>, but so far.</p><p>She drops the knife into his waiting hand, and he <em>grins</em> and leans in nice and close. “Thank you,” he adds, “and by the way, <em>nice nose.”</em></p><p>And with that, he turns on his heel and starts towards the next room, leaving her with her heart in her throat and trembling fingers.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to everyone who left me comments, kudos, subscribed, or bookmarked this fic! It's something that I really enjoy writing at the moment, and I hope to continue this fic into the future. For those who have just left kudos, I say why not consider subscribing? And to those who are subscribed, I say why not consider leaving me a comment? They really do work wonders and make me want to update, especially since this story is something I write when I feel like it, and doesn't have pre-written chapters.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hisoka and her make it through this phase of the Exam in six hours, seventeen minutes. They finish first and second, respectively.</p><p>Until the other competitors arrive, they're left alone, and the very idea makes her arousal for him <em>flare</em>. It doesn't matter that they're being watched on camera right now—she <em>wants </em>him. She swears that if he so much as tries to speak to her, she's going to end up jumping his bones.</p><p>But he doesn't.</p><p>All he does is doze, both eyes stubbornly shut as though she isn't worth the effort of even keeping up the illusion of being on guard.</p><p>She takes the time to make sure her wig is still glued on straight, to squirt eye drops into her eyes, to <em>paint her nails—</em>she knew she would eventually have the down-time, and so she'd brought several colors.</p><p>Finally, <em>finally</em>, Hisoka's nose twitches in irritation, most likely due to the smell.</p><p>And then, he's upon her.</p><p>She should probably be jealous that he's giving some girl, some <em>nobody</em> his attention like this, but then, she's the one putting on this elaborate ruse, she's the one under the mask, <em>she's the one receiving his attention</em>, so she decides she doesn't care.</p><p>"What are you up to, <em>kitten?"</em> he asks, winding around her, his voice little more than a deep purr.</p><p>She knows that ignoring him is tantamount to pissing him off and so she does, feigning deafness until he not-so-gently peels her earbuds from her ears.</p><p>"Well?" he asks, taking her chin in hand and tilting her face to greet his. This was something she hadn't counted on; hadn't thought to consider the <em>what ifs</em> associated with him touching her, with him feeling the prosthetics. If he notices the decidedly <em>wrong</em> texture of her "skin", he makes no mention of it.</p><p>"Painting my nails?" she asks more than says, a tentative response given in a meek voice.</p><p>Hisoka lifts her hand to his eyes for closer inspection, sharp nails trailing along the inside of her wrist before straying to her palm. "Hm," he makes a noise of scrutiny, "I don't like this color. You should paint them <em>red."</em></p><p>She immediately agrees, if only so that she can snatch her hand eagerly from his grasp; her heart is racing so fast, she can feel her pulse in her fingertips, so loud that she's worried he can hear it. And it isn't the racing heartbeat of someone who's <em>afraid.</em></p><p>She <em>shudders.</em></p><p>He lets her go on like that for a few moments, hastily removing pastel yellow varnish with a pre-soaked cotton ball that she had thought to bring.</p><p>But the silence proves too much. "What's your name, <em>kitten?"</em> he asks.</p><p>She's been prepared for this question since she came up with this plan, but having his golden eyes fixed on her plain brown ones makes her heart and voice <em>stutter.</em> "C-Celia," she replies, adding an extra-strong dose of Japponese twang to her voice.</p><p>He laughs. "Well, <em>Celia</em>, want to see a magic trick?"</p><p>And, just as she finishes painting her final nail a deep scarlet, her vision goes black.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another update! I got a really nice review on FFnet that made me want to update this fic--see, nice things happen when I get good feedback, which is why you should drop a comment! Anyway, it's pretty unlikely that I will update again this quickly, but I've definitely been feeling inspired with this fic, and the good feedback prompted me to take action. So if you like what you've read, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH YOUR COMMENTS MOTIVATE ME!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow this story has gotten a lot of attention! Thanks so much to everyone who has left kudos, bookmarked this story, subscribed, or even (my favorite) left a comment! </p><p>I love comments. I really, really do; they're actually part of why I'm updating so early. I was about to go to sleep (it's currently almost 3:20 AM EST) but I felt compelled to finish cleaning up this chapter and now to post it, so I hope everyone enjoys this update.</p><p>Again, if you could leave me more comments, I would really appreciate it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When she wakes up, she’s still in Zetsu. Her first fear had been that she’d slipped out of it while she was passed out, but upon closer inspection, she had not. A close second was the disguise, the careful mask that she’s crafted for herself, but that, too, remains in place. With these concerns alleviated, she’s free to worry about how Hisoka had knocked her out in the first place.</p><p>She sits up, brushing natural human hair out of her eyes—it wouldn’t do to have her hair feel synthetic, particularly when her actual hair was the most obvious monument to her vanity.</p><p>Gittarackur (okay, so she knows it’s Illumi, just as he knows that it’s her) casts her a brief glance that draws Hisoka’s attention.</p><p>“Ah, kitten,” he greets her enthusiastically. “Or should I say, <em>‘Celia’,”</em> he amends with a wink, as though they’re privy to some sort of inside joke.</p><p>
  <em>She just hopes the joke isn’t that he already knows her identity.</em>
</p><p>She takes a moment to gather her thoughts, foggy though they may be. It feels like she has cobwebs taking up residence inside her head.</p><p>“Just ‘Celia’,” she half-mumbles, just now noticing that her top is drenched in red nail polish. She absently swipes at it, but the varnish is dried. “What did you do to me?” she asks after a few moments of silence which Illumi and Hisoka seem loathe to breach.</p><p>They must have been discussing something covert and, having anticipated Illumi’s arrival, Hisoka had knocked her out. Honestly, she couldn’t ever be sure with these two; they are always acting so secretive, always talking to each other with their little walkie-talkies, always sitting around in their ‘No Girls Allowed’ tree house and braiding each other’s hair or whatever.</p><p>She's starting to get sick of it.</p><p>And jealous, but that’s beside the point.</p><p>“Just got you to take a little nap,” Hisoka says it lackadaisically, as though he’d been doing her a favor and hadn’t, instead, put her—unwillingly and unwittingly—to sleep for the past-however-long.</p><p><em>The varnish was dry. How long </em>has<em> it been?</em></p><p>She’s about to inquire when Hanzo is announced, and she finds out that she’s been out for <em>hours</em>. Seriously, what did Hisoka <em>do</em> to her?</p><p>Still, she considers, perhaps it’s better this way; Hisoka already knows that she was wearing a prosthetic nose, and probably that she’s wearing a chin as well. She’s only lucky that she was able to keep up Zetsu during her involuntary nap; she had fallen into meditative states similarly restful to sleep while keeping up Zetsu or In previously, she’d just never been knocked unconscious and taken a several-hour-long, impromptu nap while maintaining it. There was something vastly different about planned meditation and being knocked out, unawares, that left her with the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps she’d been leaking Nen while asleep after all.</p><p>Still, there’s nothing she can do now.</p><p>She has to fight with herself not to go over to her friends—well, her <em>friend</em>, singular; she’s not entirely certain <em>what</em> she and Hisoka are doing, but she’s definitely not <em>friends </em>with him, she finds herself thinking rather vehemently. <em>Not anymore.</em></p><p>When the Examiners finally serve them food, she realizes for the first time how hungry she is. Repressing her aura has taken a lot out of her, made her feel half-starved. She digs in, her appetite voracious, and chooses to ignore the canoodling happening between Hisoka and Illumi just beyond her peripheral vision.</p><p>Instead, she wastes her time engaging in the fruitless effort of attempting to clean off the nail polish. It’s caked stubbornly on her T-shirt, and no matter how many of the pre-soaked cotton balls she takes to it (and she employs the efforts of all five of her remaining stash) she can’t get out the color. She smells like blood and sweat and varnish and acetone and she’s <em>mad</em> but she fights the urge to glare at Hisoka.</p><p>His message is clear; <em>you won’t be forgetting me any time soon.</em></p><p>She knows him too well, knows what he wants; lingering evidence of their time together, a reminder of what she should be grateful for—her blood, unspilt.</p><p>She’s lucky it was just the nail polish, lucky that he hadn’t murdered her while she slept, never mind for the serendipitous audacity she’d had to crash his fight with that Examiner.</p><p>Eventually, fiddling with her shirt seems too high a price to pay for her own amusement, and she gives up, instead finding solace in counting the warm beige stones that constitute her current prison.</p><p>And then, <em>finally</em>, the third phase of the Exam is called, with the same children from earlier making it through the tower last.</p><p>She’s impressed that they’ve made it this far, curious what their blood and their Nen will look like staining Hisoka’s hands and seeping from their veins as Hisoka drains them to the last drop. There’s no other option, in her mind; no scenario where these children make it through these next few years alive.</p><p>And she’s not sure whether or not she should celebrate their demise or host a funeral in their honor. It reminds her too much…</p><p>
  <em>of her.</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As a side note, I may not update this story next week; it depends on my personal situation. My mother was exposed to the corona virus by a co-worker (she works at a payroll company, which is considered an essential service) and she's currently in self-isolation in our house. If she ends up coming down with the virus, I'm the person who is most physically able to take care of her (and by that I mean that I'm the least at-risk in terms of my father being over fifty and my brother having lung related issues) so it's very likely that if she comes down with the virus, I will end up coming down with it too. Depending upon this situation, an update might take a while, though I do have three more chapters already written.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to everyone who commented and left kudos. As always, they're greatly appreciated! Comments really make me want to write for and update this story, so please continue to leave them :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She met Hisoka when she was eleven and he was thirteen.</p><p>He was freshly beaten, knocked unconscious and left for dead in a gutter, his cheekbones and ribs painted in mottled purple-blue splendor, blood pooling on the ground under him, dripping from his nose, his mouth—</p><p>She was a brat back then. Probably still is now, just in a different way, but she’d never been heartless.</p><p>“Mom, dad,” she’d asked, “that boy—what can we do to help him?”</p><p>Her parents had looked at each other and then at her, their resolve crumbling away like sandcastles too close to the shore as soon as they looked her in the eyes. They couldn’t deny her, their only daughter. She’d always been persuasive (or maybe just spoiled) like that.</p><p>“We can’t afford to take care of him ourselves,” her father had begun hesitantly, “but there might be a way that we can help him after all.”</p><hr/><p>“Illumi,” she greets, meeting his mask with her own.</p><p><em>“‘Celia,’”</em> he says in return, his voice chattering along with his body. She had forgotten how much this Gittarackur disguise disturbed her. “Or should I say—”</p><p>She shushes him. “Hey, be quiet! What if Hisoka is nearby?”</p><p>He just cocks his head at her. “And yet you just called me by my real name.” And then he pulls out that damned walkie-talkie.</p><p>She zones out as he speaks to his boyfriend—or is Hisoka <em>her</em> boyfriend? She’s really not sure—that is, until she hears her badge number mentioned.</p><p>
  <em>She’s—</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fuck.</em>
</p><p>Illumi finishes his conversation, playing with one of his pins all the while. After he hangs up, she immediately tries to ask him the question that weighs like lead on her mind, but he ignores her, and instead throws the pin he’s holding at the woman with the sniper rifle who’s been watching them this whole time.</p><p>She rolls her eyes. “Always with the dramatics,” she says, scoffing. “She was aiming too far to the left; she was going to miss anyway.”</p><p>Illumi shrugs. “Oh well.”</p><p>“So, <em>I’m </em>Hisoka’s target, huh?” she asks, then smacks him on the arm. “And <em>you were going to give me up?”</em></p><p>He shrugs again. “It’s not like he doesn’t know that you are.”</p><p>She has to concede that he is, in fact, correct; if Hisoka doesn’t know her badge number by now, that’s his problem. It isn’t as though they haven’t spent quite a bit of time together.</p><p>“I guess I’ll just have to stay in hiding,” she says through a sigh. “Man, this is boring!” She stomps her foot. “I thought this would be so much more interesting.”</p><p>Illumi’s face barely shifts, his best approximation of lifting a brow when his face is so rigid. “You’re undercover,” he deadpans, “it’s not supposed to be particularly interesting.”</p><p>She ignores him. “And Hisoka is paying more attention to those kids than to me!” She stomps her foot again, crushing a twig in the process. “Dammit, it’s so unfair.”</p><p>Illumi’s expression remains unbothered. “Then reveal yourself.”</p><p>She shakes her head. “I’ve made it this far. I can make it until the end of the Exam.” She pouts. “Who’s your target, anyway?”</p><p>He’s about to reply when her target, Goz, makes the simple mistake of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without any fanfare, he launches his attack. She has to bend over completely backwards to avoid being speared through the chest, and she is <em>not </em>amused.</p><p>Neither, at a glance, is Illumi.</p><p>“Goz right?” she attempts conversation, even as she bobs and weaves around his spear. “You should give up now. Maybe join the circus or something instead. This path that you’re on—it’ll only end in death.”</p><p>“Yeah, yours!” he roars, bringing the spear down in an overhead strike that she easily leaps away from.</p><p>She shakes her head in disappointment; he doesn’t realize that he’s maneuvered himself almost directly into Illumi’s arms.</p><p>Illumi cocks his head to the side as though he’s confused by Goz’s exclamation. “No,” he says in that creepy-calm voice of his, and Goz makes a noise of surprise as he realizes how close he is to Illumi, “yours.” And with that, his nails sharpen to talons and he straight up <em>gores</em> her target.</p><p><em>“Hey!”</em> she protests, starting toward the pair. They’re only a few paces away, but somehow the distance feels so much farther when Illumi is giving her target those predatory eyes.</p><p>She can already tell that this situation isn’t going to end well.</p><p>A scheming Illumi is not a good Illumi.</p><p>“Don’t kill me,” Goz pleads, “not like this.” He clutches at his side and when he removes his hands, they come away red. He hastily ties his sash around the wound. “A warrior’s death. Grant me one. You and me, a head to head battle.”</p><p>Illumi’s head cocks even further to the right, so much so that his head is held at an awkward angle.</p><p>Another step and she reaches her companion’s side. “Your badge—” she starts, holding out her hand so that Goz can deposit it if he is so inclined.</p><p>She’s ignored.</p><p>“A warrior’s death, huh?” Illumi replies, lifting a purple-nail clad hand to his chin. “I’ll give you this one wish. But,” he cocks his head in the opposite direction, and his resulting smile is empty, “you must fight number forty-four.”</p><p>And with that, he lets Goz run away.</p><p>Illumi really is soft-hearted.</p><p>“You shouldn’t play with your food,” she remarks wryly.</p><p>Illumi only hums in agreement. “Probably.”</p><p>She scoffs. “Are you going to follow him?” she wonders, and then asks herself: <em>am </em>I <em>going to follow him?</em></p><p>Illumi shrugs, his whole body jittering with the effect of his transformation. “Maybe.” And with that, he walks off.</p><p>
  <em>Such a great conversationalist and wonderful friend.</em>
</p><p>She climbs a tree and relaxes back into the trunk.</p><p>
  <em>It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to go chase him down, not at all.</em>
</p><p>She’ll just have to find three other targets. Leave Goz for dead (because that’s what he is, <em>dead</em>, if he goes after Hisoka) and leave his badge behind in the process. She can get to six points some other way. She just has to leave Goz and therefore Hisoka alone.</p><p>And yet, she knows she’ll end up encountering Hisoka again before this phase is complete.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to everyone who commented and wished my mother and I well. She ended her self-isolation period on Friday without ever coming down with a fever or feeling ill, so we're fairly confident that she doesn't have the coronavirus. Taking care of her while she was isolation was difficult for me; I ended up having to pick up all the chores that she would normally do around the house, as well as my own, and then of course had to bring her all of her meals. It was also really hard for me to not see her for two weeks because I've always been so close to her. Even opening up about this situation has been hard for me, but I'm glad that I did because of the support I have received here. It truly means a lot to me, you have no idea :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The long awaited chapter 6! Sorry for it taking so long; I've been consumed by another project, this one for the Hunger Games, and since I wasn't receiving as many reviews, I decided to hold back on updating this fic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They end up dropping the boy at the circus.</p><p>“They’ll take care of him,” her father had insisted, “and he’ll have work. Maybe that will keep him out of trouble.”</p><p>She’s not so certain.</p><p>She ends up visiting him against her parents’ wishes.</p><p>“We found him beaten in a gutter,” her mother had said with a shake of her head, “if there’s anyone you don’t want to associate with, sweetheart, it’s that boy.”</p><p>So, she sneaks there on her biweekly trips to the market.</p><p>He’s still unconscious when they drop him off, so he doesn’t recognize her the first time that she visits him. When she explains that she and her parents are responsible for his accommodations, he doesn’t seem particularly impressed, though he thanks her anyway with a—frankly creepy—smile.</p><p>She’s not deterred. She wants to know this boy, know what he was doing in the gutter, and she’s going to get her answers, one way or another.</p>
<hr/><p>She’s creeping around in the brush trying to find Goz to put him out of his misery when she happens upon Hisoka in a clearing. She knows she shouldn’t be here. Knows that she should have kept her promise to herself to hunt down other competitors instead, but she couldn’t help herself. The desire, the <em>ache </em>to be near him, to keep tabs on him, is nearly overwhelming. And, in her hubris, she had assumed that she could catch up to Goz before he found Hisoka.</p><p>Instead, her instinct to follow the hemotropic butterflies had backfired; she should have realized that she would find Hisoka first, considering how large the swarm is. Goz hadn’t had the time to attract nearly this amount quite yet, and Hisoka <em>had</em> been injured in the trick tower. She imagines that Goz is nearby, though.</p><p>All she has to do now is wait.</p><p>“Well,” Hisoka finally says, looking up. Even from here, she can see the blood lust in his gaze. He’s getting thirsty—after all, it’s been a while since the trick tower. “Show yourself.”</p><p>She strains and is able to make out heavy breathing, taste blood other than Hisoka’s on her tongue.</p><p>She shudders.</p><p>It tastes…</p><p>
  <em>Delicious.</em>
</p><p>When neither she nor her unwitting companion reveal themselves, Hisoka continues, “I know you’re there.”</p><p>Still, no one moves.</p><p>Hisoka releases a sharp huff of a laugh. “If you won’t come out,” he says, “I suppose I’ll have to come to you.” He rises to his feet and slowly stalks towards the bushes about five meters to her left.</p><p>Hisoka’s almost to the bushes when Goz finally reveals himself.</p><p>“I seek a bout with you,” Goz says to Hisoka, brandishing his spear. It’s all she can do not to start laughing—she truly can’t believe that Goz had taken Illumi up on this offer, can’t believe that he wants to die to Hisoka of all people.</p><p>
  <em>He should have just given her his badge.</em>
</p><p>“You’ll die,” Hisoka says, an amused promise.</p><p>And with that, the fight begins, though she’d probably argue that it wasn’t much of a fight, with Hisoka only dodging.</p><p>Eventually, she can see the sheen of sweat on Goz’s face, the pale, sickly pallor of his skin. He lets out a shout and the strength of his next blow cleaves the tree behind Hisoka neatly in two.</p><p><em>He doesn’t get it,</em> she thinks, <em>not at all.</em></p><p>“Why…won’t you fight?” Goz manages to gasp out.</p><p>“I only need to evade, and you’ll die eventually, right?” Hisoka asks, quirking a brow.</p><p>As if on cue, the throng of hemotropic butterflies that have been following Goz flock to him once more.</p><p>“I can tell by the large swarm of hemotropic butterflies that your wounds are quite serious,” Hisoka continues, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.</p><p>Goz gives another grunt and then falls to his knees.</p><p>“Someone has already wounded you, correct? I understand wanting to end your life fighting as a warrior.”</p><p>And yet…</p><p>“Why do you refuse to fight me and grant me the death I desire?”</p><p>Hisoka shrugs, his expression apologetic, as though it can’t be helped. “Because,” he says in measured tones, “I have no interest in the dead.”</p><p>“But—I’m not—”</p><p>Hisoka shakes his head slightly and turns on his heel. “How do I know you’re dead?” he muses, then deadpans, “your <em>eyes.”</em></p><p>Goz makes one final charge at Hisoka, who sits perched on the fallen tree, but he’s stopped by Illumi.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry,” Illumi apologizes, entirely unapologetic. “I was careless, and he got away.”</p><p>That’s certainly not how she recalls that situation playing out.</p><p>“Don’t lie to me” Hisoka admonishes, forever able to see through Illumi’s bullshit. “He probably begged you to grant him a last request and you relented. Am I right?”</p><p>“Well, I may have felt sorry for the man,” Illumi admits. “He <em>was</em> going to die anyway.”</p><p>“You really need to stop pitying those who serve no purpose.”</p><p>“But you’re guilty of that yourself. You’ve walked away from opponents before finishing them.”</p><p>“I do have standards. Why waste time on people who are utterly useless? I spare only those whose premature deaths would be a waste.”</p><p>Illumi snorts. “Like Alice?”</p><p>Hisoka freezes. Pauses. Considers.</p><p>So does she.</p><p>“Like Alice,” he admits.</p><p>She swears her heart stops.</p><p>“What about his badge?” Hisoka asks after a prolonged silence.</p><p>Illumi smiles a creepy smile. “Oh, I know whose target he was. Here,” he passes the badge over to Hisoka, “now if she wants it, she’ll have to come to you.”</p><p>That—that—b a s t a r d.</p><p>She <em>seethes</em>.</p><p>“Oh?” Hisoka chuckles. “Could it be my little kitten?”</p><p>She wants the world to swallow her whole.</p><p>Because now if she wants Goz’s badge, she’ll have to confront Hisoka.</p><p>And it’s all Illumi’s fault.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to comment! Words cannot express how much comments mean to me, so I sincerely thank everyone who took the time to leave one. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, in case you were curious, I'm basing Hisoka's past off the Ishida Sui manga.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today, they’re in the market together.</p><p>“I’m rather fond of persimmons,” she’s saying when he suddenly takes one of the aforementioned fruits out of the basket and takes a bite, walking away from her.</p><p>“Hey!” the vendor calls after him. “You need to pay for that!”</p><p>But Hisoka doesn’t stop. Doesn’t even turn around or otherwise acknowledge that he’s just stolen something.</p><p>So, she stutters out an apology and gives the vendor the last of her allowance before chasing after him. He hasn’t disappeared into the crowd, hasn’t vanished from plain sight. No, instead he lets her catch occasional glimpses of him, teasing her even though he so obviously wants her to find him. It’s somehow even more frustrating than if he were to try and lose her entirely. No, he likes to keep her on her toes, likes making her chase after him in a game whose rules on he knows, like she’s his loyal bitch. Like she’s nothing but a toy, a puppet whose strings only he can pull.</p><p>And it works.</p><p>Eventually, when she’s close enough, she tears at his shoulder with angry fingers. “What the fuck, dude?” she hisses, punching him harder in the arm than the situation strictly warrants—though how exactly she’s expected to react to his behavior is beyond her. What does one do when their newest acquaintance seems to be almost completely amoral and unfeeling?</p><p>Hisoka lets out a choked noise at the contact, and she realizes she’s punched him in one of the many still-healing bruises that litter his body. The noise isn’t as pain-filled as she would have expected. In fact, it sounds more like a—</p><p>Like a <em>moan.</em></p><p>She shivers.</p><p>“I knew you’d pay anyway, so what’s the harm?” Hisoka attempts to excuse himself, but she doesn’t tolerate any bullshit.</p><p>“Really?” she drawls sarcastically.</p><p>“Really,” he drawls right back. He lets out an amused chuckle. “You’re too <em>good</em> not to.” He says it like believing in moral objectivism is some sort of horrible affliction from which she suffers, the cure to which is currently unknown.</p><p>She feels her mouth pull into an unconscious frown. “Still, you can’t always expect me to pay for or otherwise take care of you.”</p><p>He shoots her a deadpan expression. “Can’t I?”</p><p>“No,” she huffs. “One day, I’m not going to be around to make excuses and cover for you, and then you’ll be in <em>so</em> much trouble.”</p><p>He pauses and she thinks that maybe she’s finally gotten to him, finally said something that registers or resonates somewhere deep within him, but then he grins a feral grin and tweaks her nose. Hard. “Sweet Alice,” he says, “I’m <em>counting</em> on it.”</p><p>And even she couldn’t have predicted just how right he would be.</p><hr/><p>Gon pulls off an admittedly incredible—if not seemingly insurmountable—feat by taking Hisoka’s badge. Of course, he then gets poisoned as he’s running away. She can’t remember the name or number of the man who attacks Gon, but he’s clever; as soon as Gon lets down his guard, he attacks. She’s equal parts impressed and exasperated with Gon’s single-minded focus—it isn’t every day that she sees someone so concentrated as to completely forego their awareness of their environment.</p><p>Hisoka ends up reclaiming Gon’s hard-earned #44 badge from Gon’s attacker and says he’ll only accept it back when Gon is able to punch him in the face.</p><p>As far as she’s concerned, it’s fair.</p><p>She’s still following Hisoka when he suddenly stops. “You can come out, kitten~” he says, and a shiver goes down her spine.</p><p>She doesn’t move. Doesn’t even breathe. How does he know—?</p><p>“I can <em>taste</em> your arousal.”</p><p>She swallows.</p><p>“And your blood lust. It’s…<em>delicious.”</em></p><p>Well, if he already knows—</p><p>She steps out of the tree-line and directly into his path. “You have something of mine,” she cuts to the chase.</p><p>Hisoka’s hand travels to his pocket and he withdraws the badge she’s been after for the better part of the last two days. He pinches it between his forefinger and thumb, holding it up for both their inspection so that they can see the number emblazoned across it.</p><p>“Yours?” he asks with a cocked brow, and then he’s in front of her, almost faster than she can blink, his long fingers playing with the hardened stain of nail polish that coats the entire bottom half of her shirt in blood red splendor. “I think you’re mistaken,” he says, his fingers trailing up her side, vicious nails skimming her neck and causing goosebumps to erupt down her arms and the hair to stand up on the back of her neck.</p><p>It’s only when he’s about to tweak her nose—her <em>real</em> nose—that she regains her senses and pulls away. “I’m really not,” she says through a swallow, taking a step back.</p><p>“This badge is mine,” he says, cocking his head to the side. “I killed for it, fair and square.”</p><p>She huffs, unable to stop herself from pouting. “My target,” she says, crossing her arms, “my badge.”</p><p>He smirks. “Nothing here belongs to you.”</p><p>And is he wrong? She barely even belongs to herself anymore. She’s his.</p><p>He takes a step towards her and she retreats. “If you want it, you’ll have to take it from me, kitten.”</p><p>And she almost reveals herself right then and there; almost rips off the fake chin, the wig; almost tears out the contacts and false lashes; almost rubs away the makeup until her skin is raw and irritated in naked relief.</p><p>But she refrains.</p><p>Because it’s not time yet.</p><p>But she still can’t help herself from saying—</p><p>“I’ll fight you for it.”</p><p>And his lips curl into a predatory grin. “I thought you’d never ask.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Want to connect with me or with others who enjoy Rent Asunder? Check out my Discord! https://discord.gg/phzUsxX</p><p>I want to keep my comment count as accurate as possible, so joining my Discord server will better allow me to communicate with you, including giving you updates on when I plan to post a new chapter, sneak previews, etc.!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’s visiting Hisoka when one of the performers falls victim to injury. Hisoka volunteers to perform in his stead, even though he has never—so she thinks—juggled before in his life. But Hisoka pulls the act off flawlessly; she’s not sure she’s ever seen him falter, ever seen him fail. Even when the jealous juggler, Yasuda, throws another paddle at him, Hisoka doesn’t so much as flinch—he just catches it and carries on juggling.</p><p>Not for the first time, she wonders who, exactly, this boy is.</p><p>This boy who can learn how to do anything by watching, this boy who she found beaten half to death in a gutter.</p><p>
  <em>Why? Why? Why?</em>
</p><p>There’s no mistaking it; Hisoka is a prodigy. It doesn’t matter what circus act he tries—he excels. She watches him balance on a tight rope, spin plates, fly through the air on the trapeze. You name it, Hisoka can do it.</p><p>Everything but Moritonio’s Sky Swimming act.</p><p>And thus, Moritonio introduces them to Nen.</p><hr/><p>“Don’t hold back, now,” Hisoka says, closing his eyes, tilting his head to the side, and smirking.</p><p>She very suddenly regrets her decision. “Actually—” she starts but has to cut herself off when he throws a quick punch at her head. She’s forced to dodge, moving swiftly to the right, then weaving left when he follows up with his other fist.</p><p>This goes on for some time, her dipping and ducking and protesting all the while.</p><p>“Hisoka, let’s talk about this!” she tries to say again, but his bloodlust is too strong, so strong that she can <em>taste</em> it, so inviting that she wants to greet it with her own. But she refrains. Holds her aura firmly in place and refuses to falter, even when Hisoka starts throwing Nen-sharpened cards at her head, even when he tries to entangle her in his Bungee Gum.</p><p>He could go on like this for hours. She knows it like she knows the hard planes of his chest, of the ridges of his abdomen, the sharp curve of his collar bone. Knows it like she knows Illumi is a complete asshole and that Hisoka is still a mystery to her even after all this time.</p><p>She loses herself in thoughts of how to get out of this fight; on whether it’s worth it to try and flee (no, he would just chase her down) or try and fight back (no, because then it would be obvious that she is not Celia, that she is Alice) or if she should try and wait for him to get bored of her (also not an option, she’s intrigued him too much) or else see if she can tire him out (that could take hours) but it’s to no avail. She’s fucked. Royally fucked.</p><p>And because she’s distracted, it finally happens—Hisoka nicks her with one of his cards and when it springs back into his hand (as if by magic, as if he’s really a magician after all and not just a clown with a penchant for dramatics) he <em>licks</em> her blood off the edge.</p><p>His eyes widen in surprise and he <em>moans</em>. “Kitten, you’re <em>delicious.”</em></p><p>The noises he makes cause her stomach twist in anticipation and arousal spikes through her sharp and hot.</p><p>And suddenly, they’re no longer fighting. They’re both panting, and she knows that a light sheen of sweat coats her brow, but he’s no longer actively trying to kill her. No, now he’s staring at her like he wants to devour her <em>whole</em>.</p><p>And she can almost imagine that they've been engaged in a different kind of fight entirely, a different sort of entanglement, an embracing of limbs rather than a rejection of them.</p><p>She <em>shudders.</em></p><p>“You’re not ripe yet,” he finally says, tone almost remorseful. He stares at the card in his hand, at the blood trickling down the Queen of Hearts’ somber face, and his expression is not one of revelation, thank God, but of resigned reverence. “You have proven to be a worthy opponent, kitten,” he finally admits, “but it’s not quite your time.”</p><p>Her heart rate drops in response. She’s <em>safe.</em></p><p>Except—</p><p>He fingers the badge—the badge she needs—twirling it between his forefinger and thumb, and his lips curl into a positively feral grin. “I’ll give you this badge,” he says, and flicks it like a coin to her. She catches it in her left hand, double-checking the number on it.</p><p>371.</p><p>It’s Goz’s alright.</p><p>“But,” he says, and his grin widens, showing sharp teeth tinged pink with her blood, “the next time we fight,” he takes a step towards her and she backs up in response, “I expect you to give it your all.”</p><p>And that’s a promise she’s not sure she can keep.</p><p>But she agrees with a short nod regardless.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the delay-I know chapters are short and it can be dissatisfying when they come out because of the length, but I've struggled with writing long chapters because it starts to feel like work and less like something I'm doing for fun. And I know you may be thinking "But Cookie, writing *is* work!" and it is, but at the same time it isn't; if it feels like work than it's no longer a hobby.</p><p>Expect another update next month-I'm hoping that I'll be able to update more frequently in the future, but for now I've been consumed with studying for the LSAT and a Hunger Games fic that I will be publishing soon.</p><p>Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day and drop a comment if you please :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Enjoy Smut Responsibly (Omake)*</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy early update! Please be advised that this chapter is rated E.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Why do you want to be a Hunter?” Netero asks her.</p><p>She’s half-distracted by his sagging earlobes, but not so much that she ignores his question completely. “Huh? Oh, I just came here to prove a point,” she says, and though her answer may be vague, it’s the truth.</p><p>“To whom?” he asks. “Yourself?”</p><p>And she has to think about that. Because she’s proving a point to Hisoka but isn’t she also proving it to herself, to Illumi, to anyone who had ever doubted her? <em><strike>to her parents</strike></em></p><p>“Maybe,” she replies thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin. This had all started as a way to surprise Hisoka, to wring some sort of expression out of him, and, if she’s being honest with herself, perhaps she was hoping to squeeze some sort of explanation from him; a confession for why he had thought he could bar her from coming in the first place, for why he had thought he could control her.</p><p>“Out of all the other candidates, which one are you keeping a close eye on?”</p><p>She <em>laughs</em>. “Forty-four,” she says automatically, then thinks a little harder. “I suppose the children as well, 99, 405 and their little group.” She’s not sure what their names or numbers are, because she hasn’t been paying that much attention. “Oh!” she realizes suddenly that she’s forgotten Illumi. “And 301.”</p><p>“And who are you <em>least</em> looking forward to fighting?”</p><p>She grins a feral grin. <em>“I’m looking forward to fighting everyone.”</em></p>
<hr/><p>“You must make your opponent admit defeat—” the words echo in her ears as she stands across from Hisoka. His mouth is a deadly slash of red, splitting his cheeks and putting the paint on his face in stark relief.</p><p>“Are you ready to fight, kitten?” he asks, that same smirk still pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Remember, you promised not to hold back.”</p><p>She had, hadn’t she? But another thought consumes her. <em>Must make your opponent admit defeat, </em>and suddenly, fighting is the last thing on her mind, a different passion coursing through her and warming her blood, one that she hasn’t had a chance to quell ever since Hisoka went away.</p><p>“I won’t,” she promises, licking her lips.</p><p>His long, spider-like fingers form fists and she can’t help but smile a wide smile that shows far too many teeth to remain in the character of Celia, but he just mirrors her. If anything, he only looks more intrigued.</p><p>“I’m surprised you never figured me out,” she drawls slowly, then, as they begin to circle one another. With one hand, she peels off the false lashes that have been impairing her vision for the better part of the week, and she watches Hisoka’s eyebrow raise in interested humor. She’s piqued his curiosity.</p><p>“I thought you knew me better than anyone,” she says, removing the colored contacts from her eyes and revealing startlingly gray irises. Something sparks in his gaze then, and his mouth half-forms her name, but she’s not done yet. “But you never did,” she says gleefully. She removes the fake chin. “You never so much as suspected that it could be me.”</p><p>She withdraws a bag of makeup wipes from her pocket and begins to forcibly scrub at her face, removing layers of contouring and face paint and glue and cotton that have so easily and so effectively changed her features. “Because it never occurred to you, it never even <em>crossed your mind</em> that I would every disobey you.”</p><p>And with that, she releases her aura, groaning at the sensation of finally being free, of finally touching her Nen to his and feeling his calm rage and his bloodlust and beyond that, his <em>lust</em> instead of just seeing it written on his face.</p><p><em>“Alice,”</em> he sneers, voice taut with something she can’t quite place. “Or did you prefer <em>kitten</em> now?”</p><p>Is he mad that she’d fooled him? His eyes are wide, pupils blown, and his eyelashes are fluttering like he can’t <em>quite </em>believe that she’s here, flicking all over her face and body, not entirely sure where to look.</p><p>She <em>laughs.</em> “Whichever you want, so long as you’re the one calling me it, <em>sweetheart.”</em></p><p>He lifts his hands challengingly. “Did you think that this would get you out of fighting me?” he says it mockingly. “Did you think I would no longer want your blood on my hands, just because it’s <em>you?”</em></p><p>She’s shaking her head “no” even as he continues, “Because you’ve denied me all week, and I’m <em>done </em>waiting.”</p><p>“So am I,” she counters, and lunges for him. He’s quick to evade, but her real target was never his face, her objective was never to harm, and now that she’s done holding back, she’s fast enough to meet her real goal. Her fingernails rake over his scalp on their journey to the ends of his hair, where she holds firmly and <em>yanks, </em>baring his throat to her.</p><p>And he <em>moans.</em> “So that’s your plan,” he says through a forced laugh, his expression feverish. “That’s how you want to play. Unfair, <em>rough,”</em> he practically purrs as the nails of her other hand, painted a vicious red, trail down the pale expanse of skin, tracing his jugular. He huffs out another choked laugh. <em>“Dirty,”</em> he finishes.</p><p>And it’s around that time that she realizes that they have an audience.</p><p>“I know that look,” says the tallest—and the oldest—member of Gon’s group. She doesn’t spare him so much as a glace, her own gaze thoroughly locked with that of Hisoka, whose eyes are equal parts dark and bright with lust. “Killua,” he says slowly, “turn <em>away.”</em></p><p>“Why?” asks the white-haired Zoldyck.</p><p>And she can’t be bothered to care anymore because Hisoka suddenly suplexes her into the floor, leaving her gasping in a crater as he kneels on top of her. “Unfortunately,” he says, as she tries to catch her breath, “I can’t kill you.” And he forces her back into the rubble, a small piece of debris lodging itself into the small of her back.</p><p>She hitches a leg around his trim waist and flips them to get out of the uncomfortable position, indirectly putting her at a beneficial angle from which to grind her hips into his. But then he’s gripping her waist, hands bruising in their intensity, and freezing her movements on top of him. He digs claw-like nails into her skin so hard that she knows nail polish will no longer be the only substance staining her shirt red.</p><p>He lifts a finger to his lips and licks at the blood sullying the digit, lips quirking at the corners.</p><p>“I should have recognized this taste,” he laments, bringing another finger to his mouth and licking it equally clean. “Should have recognized your face, your feel.” He brings her down so that her hips align with his one more.</p><p>“Are they really—”</p><p>“Ew—”</p><p>She hears the others murmuring, or maybe they’re speaking at full volume, but she’s tuned them out, because she doesn’t care. Let them hear her, let them <em>watch.</em> All that matters is that he’s finally right <em>here, </em>perfectly pressed against where she needs him the most.</p><p><em>“Hisoka,”</em> she moans and bends to slot her lips with his, but he chuckles and evades her.</p><p>“Work for it, Alice,” he demands. “You have to make me submit.”</p><p>And she wrenches his wrists from her, momentarily stilling their movements, and pins them to the ground, holding them firmly in place even as he struggles at full-strength to be let go. But she’s more determined, has that working on her side, and even as he bucks into her wildly, erratically, his hips stuttering arrhythmically, she holds fast, tight.</p><p>The angle is good but not good enough, not for her. But this isn’t about her. It’s about winning. It’s about <em>him.</em> And right now, she has all the power.</p><p>She attacks his throat with teeth and tongue, creating and soothing marks and nipping at his sharp collar bones, but it’s her words that send him.</p><p>“Say it, Hisoka. For me. Say it and then you can have control,” she whispers in his ear, and he shudders at the very thought, a full-bodied reaction that jolts her atop him. “Just say it. Say you submit and you can have me. A fight, a fuck, whatever you want.” Then, even quieter, “I’d even let you kill me.”</p><p>“‘I submit,’” he says sarcastically, and she hears the ref call the match even over the sounds of her and Hisoka’s labored breaths. “Is that what you want?”</p><p>And like magic, she releases her hold on him, unclenching her hands and watching her knuckles slowly go from white back to their normal color.</p><p>Hisoka’s grin is feral as she goes to stand up. “Who said I was done with you?” he hisses, and with that, they begin a different but no less familiar sort of dance.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So we got the reveal and a little bit of smut. What'd you think? Let me know in the comments! This is a plot point that wouldn't leave me alone. Be advised that this isn't /actually/ chapter nine. That will come later!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Want to connect with other people who like Rent Asunder? Want to talk to me? Want updates on the next chapter?   <a href="https://discord.gg/phzUsxX">Join my Discord!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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